Wire stand



July 12, 1960 G. I. DONOVAN 2,944,759

WIRE STAND Fnew 22, 1957 f W l H H H I l /0 I i l I i a i 1 /2 i 1| IQfr 1 INVENTOR 6 FIG. 1 GORDON zpo/vol/A/v n ed St teme (1? T Thisinvention relates to a device which is known in the art as a wire stand.

The basic object of the invention is to provide a transportation packagefor wire, preferably soft wires of steel, bronze, brass and the like,which is so constructed as to facilitate its shipment and handling withmodern handling equipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stand of this kind withwhich relatively large amounts of wire can be transported and from whichit can be dispensed at the point of use.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a construction for astand of this type which facilitates stacking a'number of them one ontop of the other.

Other and more detailed objects of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description of the em-' bodiment thereof illustrated inthe attached drawings.-

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a wire stand in accordance with thisinvention showing a portion of the upper and lower ends of the drumbroken away to show the interior construction; and

Figure 2 is a partial top plan view of the stand.

Users of wire frequently require that the package containing it shall beof such construction that in the first place relatively large quantitiesof wire can be included in a single package. production of zipperelements by modern high speed machine methods, it is desirable that thewire from which the elements are made be supplied in packages containingfrom one thousand to fifteen hundred pounds of wire in one continuouslength.

In the second place it is desirable that the package be so constructedthat the wire may be fed from its upper end, that is in a generallyaxial direction.

In the third place it is important that the stand which forms the heartof the package be so constructed that it is adapted to safe handlingwith modern handling equipment such as overhead cranes, forked trucks,and the like.

In the fourth place it is desirable that the stands be so constructedthat they can be safely and easily stacked one on top of the other forcompact storage purposes.

The device described herein meets all of these requirements.

As' illustrated in the drawings it consists of a smooth surfacecylindrical body portion which is essentially a tube of suflicientdiameter for the purpose, as for example approximately 17" in diameterand of a suitable height as for example 28". This cylindrical body ordrum like portion 10 can be made in any suitable manner, as for exampleit can be formed from a sheet of suitable metal such as steel into acylinder of uniform diameter and welded at its abutting edges tocomplete its circular form.

Welded to the bottom peripherial edges of the drum 10 is a steel collar12 of a greater diameter, as for example for the dimensional caseselected 28'' in outside 2,944,159 Barman diameter. isvof a lesserdiameter than the internal diameter vof the drum 10 to form an annularledge 12 concentric with the drum. The radialwidth of the flange 1 2 isnot critical and can be of the .order of 2 or three inches.

Welded to the end face ofthe collar 12 is a truncated conical sleeve 14which has an internal diameter at its larger end of approximately 18%"and at its smaller end 17%7. This sleeve is welded to the collarconcentrical- 1y with it and the drum, as clearly illustrated in Fig.1'. At16 is a "steel plate of suitable thickness which dimensioned tolie internally of the drum 10 on its diam- For example, in the automaticI eter so that it may be welded to the interior face thereof, asindicated. The plate 16 has an opening 18 as shown through which a cranehook or a fork of a fork lift truck may be passed. The plate '16 issecured to the drum 10 so as to project sufiiciently above the upper endof the drum to leave the opening 18 fully exposed.

'At W there is indicated in outline the wire wound on the drum of thepackage. The end of the wire can be pulled off at the upper free end 'ofthe package more or less in an axial direction as it is fed to whateversubsequent processing it is to be subjected.

The wire manufacturer prepares the package, using the stand of thisinvention, usually by slipping previouslift truck; in which latter casethe fork engages the stand under the collar 12 or in the opening 18 asconditions require. An important feature of the invention is theprovision of the truncated conical collar 14 at the bottom of thepackage which serves as a guide so that when one package is lifted andset on top of another package, it will be guided to a centered positionon the underneath package as it is lowered onto it by the collar 14. Theconical form of the collar makes it easy to sufiiciently align the upperpackage with the lower package so that as the upper package is loweredit will be guided to a centered position on top of the upper edge of thedrum 10 of the lower package. The upper end of the lower package engagesthe end face of the collar 12 directly under the drum of the upperpackage since the outside diameter of the drum 10 is but a little lessthan the smallest diameter of the collar 14.

With this arrangement three or more packages can be stacked one on theother without fear of them toppling and stacking is facilitated asexplained above. It will be noted that the internal diameter of thecollar 12 is larger than the maximum dimension of the upwardlyprojecting handle portion of plate 16, so that no interference occurswhen the packages are stacked.

The stand of this invention is of a relatively permanent nature in thatwhen the wire user has emptied the package he returns it to the wiremanufacturer who reloads it and sends it back to the wire user. Foremphasis it is noted that the nature of this stand is such thatrelatively large'quantities of wire can be packaged, trans ported andused all within the capabilities of modern handling equipment.

Prior to the development of this stand in one field of use at least, itwas common practice to supply wire of this kind in coils of from topounds in Such relatively small quantities of wire slowed down themanufacturing processes and this difiiculty has been overcome by thedevelopment of this package which is capable of transporting and storingwire in units having a weight of the order of 1000 or 1500 pounds perpackage.

Those skilled in this 'art will appreciate that the details of thisinvention are capable of variation without departure from the novelsubject matter and the advantages The central opening which defines thecollar herein disclosed. It is desired, therefore, that the scope ofthis invention "be determined by the appended claim rather than by thepreferred form of the device selected for illustration herein.

Whattis claimed is: a v

i -A rack .of the character described, comprising a cylindricalframe'tor mounting .prewound material externally thereon, and meansonsaid frame externally thereof for supporting the material, saidsupporting means comprising a flange extending laterally of saidcylindrical frame externally thereof adjacent one endpor-tion of theframe and tprojeotingtlaterally inwardly of the frame for engaging theopposite end of a similar rack for support thereon when two or moreracks are disposed in vertical stacked relation, and a means positionedbelow said flange pro- 15 2,352,684

viding a supporting base for the rack and adapted to overlap the upperend portion ot the cylindrical frame of an adjacent lower rack in thestack, and handle means secured to said cylindrical frame internallythereof and projecting outwardly of the end of the frame opposite theend at which said flange is provided, said inwardly projecting flangeterminating 'in an edge defining an opening in which a handle on a lowerrack-is received.

References Cited in the file of this patent "UNITED STATES PATENTS800,579

Horton Sept. 26, 1905 1,859,585 'Ellison 'May 24, 1932 2,340,486 PalmerFeb. 1, 1944 Braddock July 4, 1944

